Wollaston Theatre

14 Beale Street,

Quincy,
MA02170

One day in mid-Sept there was a mini sidewalk fair in Wollaston which utilized the outer lobby of the Wollaton Theatre, the sidewalk in front and the parking spaces along that section of sidewalk. The theme was Where is the Wollaston business district going? There was a city planner there, some local business people and community activists. Old movie posters were on display. Many people who stopped by expressed the wish that the theater could reopen. The theater owner was also there and said that he would like to do something with the building, and that the building now is no longer in good condition.

Beside the Wollaston Theatre and school auditoriums, the only other theater in Quincy now is the Masonic Auditorium, located on Hancock St. in Quincy Center and very near the Quincy Center MBTA station. It was ruined by a massive fire today, 9-30-2013.

The Quincy Patriot Ledger of January 31 has a front page story about the sale. The sales price was only $600,000. The buyer is a business man from Weston who runs Asian supermarkets, the C-Mart chain. He’s been trying to open an outlet in North Quincy but has been thwarted by various zoning issues. He says he is not sure what he will do with the theater. The seller, Mrs. Yvonne Chandler, is quoted in the article as remarking that she would “rather forget the whole thing.” The article was written by reporter Jack Encarnacao.

Today’s Quincy Patriot Ledger has a feature article which reports that two entities, a group and an individual, have approached the mayor’s office with an interest in going forward with the Wolly restoration project. There will be a meeting at 630PM on Monday, Feb. 14 at the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy Center to discuss the theater. Restoration cost is estimated at $6M – $7M, which seems rather low for theater projects like this one, but possible, I guess.

The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Wollaston Theatre which was then just opening. It says it presents movies 2 days per week. There was a theatrical stock company in residence during the Wollaston’s first years so that would have limited movie presentations. It also says that it has only 400 seats, which is way too low.

The Patriot Ledger ran one its polls recently asking “Should the Wollaston Theatre be preserved and reopened, or torn down and the site developed??” There were 556 responses: Saved- 61%; Torn down-38%.

There is a front-page story in the Quincy Patriot Ledger today: “The Deal to Save ‘Wolly’ Theater Crumbles – City, Developer Back Away from Project”. The city’s planning developer, Street-Works, has dropped the Wollaston Theatre project. Too expensive, estimated cost of renovations: $7M. No return or profit possible in this undertaking. The deed for the building is still held by Mrs. Chandler. Street-Works has paid her a total of $145K toward the price of $1.14M and has skipped further payments and will not make any more. There are currently 4 retail tenants in the front of the building. The Mayor now feels that preserving this theater is pretty much a lost cause, unless someone with deep pockets steps in.

The MBTA parking lot at Wollaston station (near the theater) is for T passengers only, and is full all day on weekdays. One weekday in early afternoon a few years ago I drove to Wollaston to partonize a specialty shop there; I found the entire area choked with parked cars; drove round and round, and finally parked in the private lot of a business; hurried over to the store and back. Parking near the Wollaston Theater is a Big problem.

Ron Newman – From my conversation with Jeff, it seems that will depend on the type of use. If all the use is in the evening or weekends, that could be possible. But if some use is during weekdays, and the parking lot is filled up, that might not be enough parking.

Anali’s recent interview posted above with Jeff Levien mentions what I think is a big problem for the Wollaston Theater: the lack of parking in that area. Years ago there was a huge parking lot across from the left (south) sidewall of the auditorium, but that now has buildings on it.

Michael Cummings Jr- I don’t know what flick was playing at the Wollaston on Fri Nov 22, 1963 but it was not raining that day. It was a sunny, mild afternoon. I was on a bus from Fields Corner station to Quincy Center running down Hancock St. right past the Wollaston Th. and recall the news headlines: Patriot Ledger: “Kennedy Assassinated” and Boston Traveler: “JFK Slain”. It was a shocking event, even for people who weren’t particularly fans of the president.